it’s nice to use cameras i haven’t touched in a while. i’ve been carrying around the rolleicord for a while now, outfitted with a thin domke camera strap. it’s a little difficult to get sharp focus on it, since there is no split screen and the view is a bit dark. regardless, it is fun to use and has a great lens.

rolleicord, xenar 1:3.5/75. film is kodak tri-x developed in rodinal 1:50

i want to share a gift from my parents with you. this is a picture my dad took of me sleeping on the floor. it was taken in october of 1976, so i was a year and a half old. today i turn thirty-five.

it’s taken years to implement, but now the future of public transit is here — or so i thought.

in the bay area, there are many public transit agencies and systems, and they all have their own payment systems. translink is supposed to the solution to this. you buy a RFID translink card, put stored value (“e-cash”), put electronic transit passes on it, and then use the one card on all systems.

i purchased a translink card at my neighborhood walgreens, and after registering it online, several days later it was fully functioning. i used it on bart, on muni, and on caltrain with little problem.

then on friday, january 29th, i tried using my card at the 24th Mission BART station and the card reader said ‘see station agent’. i tried multiple readers and got the same error. i eventually went to the station agent, who said my card wasn’t working and to call translink. i was running late, so i purchased a BART ticket and used it to get to my destination. later i called translink, who asked that i try holding the card to the reader for 5-6 seconds. i tried this with no luck.

i talked to translink again and determined the fastest way to get service back was to purchase a new card. i bought a card for $5 and called them back to have my card registered and the e-cash balance transferred. i then logged into my account on the translink website and didn’t see the card and couldn’t register its serial number. so i called back and they reset my account, so i could login and see the new card. i tried purchasing a fast pass on the website but that transaction failed, with a message asking me to call translink for resolution. i called in again and was asked to log out and log back in and re-try the transaction. i did so, and was able to purchase the pass and had translink verify the transaction went through while i had them on the phone. then i was told it would take up to 3 business days for the pass to go through.

i waited a few days and then tried my card again, with no success. at this point i am getting really fed up wth the whole thing. while adding value to my real bart ticket i missed my intended train and ended up being late. later i called translink and was told that there was no balance transfer yet, but that they would do that now and everything should be ok in the morning (after midnight).

today i tried my card today and again it did not work. when i came home later i called translink back. i was asked to call back in front of an add-value machine. at this point, i got on first-name basis with the support rep. i let them know how fed up i was getting, and that i just wanted them to tell me where to go and what to do, to get this resolved.

i walked quickly to 24th/mission, took bart to civic center, and called back in front of one of their machines. the girl i talked to was not available but i did not want to wait. i explained my predicament to this other person, and they only offered to mail me a new card. she said it would be quick since they were local, so i offered to drive to their office. not open to the public, great.

i asked if the new card would have my e-cache balance and my muni fast pass. the answer was yes. we’ll see about that.

so in summary, my original card stopped working with no explanation. i bought a brand new card, which has never worked, and it took translink several days beyond the normal processing time to get everything transferred and it still doesn’t work. and now i am waiting for a third card, to be sent to me in the mail.

here are some pointers i’ve learned along the way:

1. if your card stops working, call them immediately and have them send you a replacement card with everything transferred over.

2. if you talk to their support folks, do not let them end the call until you are completely satisfied. i literally called them 5 times, each time getting one specific task done, hanging up, and having to call them back.

3. have a back-up plan. a bart ticket with plenty of value on it. correct change for a muni bus.

4. if your card breaks, budget at least a week to get back into using the system.

if i receive this third card and it does not work, i vow to drive to their office in concord and insist on speaking to a customer service manager. i will also be writing up a letter to them concerning this pathetic follow-through.

zbigniew pik was a foreign exchange student from poland, who attended our highschool in indiana. we recently re-connected on facebook. he told me he bought a bunch of broken-and-repaired cameras and accessories in sweden. he sold a lot of it but had a few items left. he saw that i was shooting with a pentax 6×7 and had a waist level viewer for it. he sent it to me in a padded envelope — the one pictured above.

when i received it, i saw a lot of the address had been eliminated due to some sort of moisture on the sticker. it still found its way to me, thanks to human oversight in package delivery. when i opened it, i was surprised by seeing the WLF, and laughed. one of the few pentax accessories i don’t have yet. my system is one step towards being comprehensive.

i love seeing packages from foreign countries. what struck me most about this one was the stamp, which seems like nylon or some sort of fabric. it’s iridescent and very detailed — beautiful.

thanks pike, for the great gift.

a week ago i went to the annual folsom street fair, an event that draws a crowd of 400,000 people to vendor exhibits, food, demonstrations, live music, and dance parties. in the past i’ve gone to a friend’s house party, since he lives at the end of the fair site. this year, i had a very different experience.

i started my day with breakfast with a group of photographer friends, wandered through the fair with them with our cameras. i rendezvoused with my friends reese and frank, and later met up the party folks.

folsom is quite an eye-opener for the uninitiated. there is a lot of public nudity, bondage and leather, and spanking going on. it’s interesting in that private fantasy and behaviors are on display. you see a lot of extreme preferences.

i was out with two cameras, both loaded with arista premium. the 24×36 frames are from a canon ae-1 program shooting at iso 400. the wide frames are from a widelux f7, shooting at iso 200. all film developed in rodinal 1+50.

this was the scene last tuesday, as a few thousand citizens rallied at san francisco city hall in response to the court upholding proposition 8. i was on the steps during the initial speeches, just a few steps below the press photographers. i was there primarily to be a part of the crowd and to support the movement, but at times i felt like an embedded photojournalist.

it still feels strange to be to be chanting in protest, and surreal that i found myself again marching down the middle of market street in a huge crowd. this is going to keep up until same-sex couples regain the right to marry in california.

both shots shot on ilford pan f+ 50, developed in rodinal 1+50 for 15 minutes. shot with a widelux f7.

i’ve been home sick since wednesday. it was a bad stomach thing, possibly food poisoning. it reminds me of getting sick in mexico in 2003. this morning, i had some gatorade, took a shower, and got dressed. now i feel exhausted. ugh. i hate missing work, especially since i’ve been more sick than usual this year. but in my current state i don’t think i would be of much use. what’s a good way to rehabilitate one’s self after becoming weak/dehydrated?

i was driving down to san jose yesterday after work when i noticed my throat was real sore. i looked in the rear view mirror and, sure enough, my throat was super red. i had gotten a little worse through the night until it was time for bed, when i decided i should just stay home.

i haven’t been sick in a long while. i did take the opportunity to walk to the market to get some granola and yogurt, to recreate one of my favorite morning meals. walking back with my ingredients, i reminisced about my mom making fresh yogurt at home. i’d mix in some wheat germ and honey.

ryan and i have both been very busy lately with the new condo. figuring out where things go, making small repairs and touch-ups. replacing and adjusting bulbs and fixtures. trying to find some time here and there to relax. i guess i’ll get some relaxation in today.

i took this shot with our canon powershot g3. light is 50 joules through a large softbox, camera left. i like having a living room that’s plenty large enough to do stuff like this.